Not a Bubble Bath Bloke
by Busman's Holiday
Summary: Ste's moment of peace in the bath is interrupted by the arrival of Brendan.


**Not a Bubble Bath Bloke**

There was a crack in the bath. Sort of brown and ominous. Ste poked it with his toe and then regretted it when it split wider. There'd be a day where he could afford a new bath, a pearly white one with shiny taps. And a shower that worked. And a flat that didn't smell stale. But they were all on the pipe dream list at the moment, they were way out of reach.

He lifted a peculiarly shaped bottle from the edge of the bath, unscrewed the lid and sniffed. Mango. It was Rae's he supposed, and he poured some orange blobs into the water and swished it around until it bubbled. It took away from the nasty damp smell in the room. It didn't really make the experience pleasant though, he wasn't a bath sort of bloke but with the shower on the blink it was the only option.

With the kids in tow, Rae had gone to finish off her Christmas shopping and the house was eerily quiet. Ste rested his neck on the bath and closed his eyes. He never imagined that Rae would have taken to Leah and Lucas like she had, but having lost her sisters, Ste guessed she liked having a family to care about. It was nice having her around too, what with Amy recuperating nearer to her dad, Ste wasn't sure he was cut out to do the single dad thing again. He laid there in the bath, wondering if he should have bought her a bigger Christmas present than the fluffy hippo slippers he had wrapped under the bed.

Ste reached up and put the radio on. Predictably they were playing Slade, but he didn't mind. He enjoyed the Christmas songs of his childhood even though he didn't have happy memories of the season and this year he was determined to make sure Leah and Lucas had the best Christmas possible.

There was a creak in the doorway and Ste grinned, calling out to Rae, "Did ya get me summit good?"

But when he opened his eyes at her non-response his jaw dropped at Brendan standing in the doorway of his bathroom.

He gulped, sitting up and awkwardly gathering bubbles to his lap. "What you doing here?" he wasn't sure how his tone came across, embarrassed, angry?

"I didn't realise it was _bath_ time," Brendan leered, taking a step into the room and flicking the door shut.

"Rae'll be back any minute," Ste said, gritting his teeth and avoiding eye contact.

"Funny that. I've just seen her on a bus into town with the kiddies," Brendan said as he started wandering the room, picking up items and inspecting them.

"What d'you want anyway?" Ste said.

Brendan picked up a rubber duck on the edge of the bath and gave it a squeeze, "Sweet," he said distractedly. He looked up to see Ste staring at him impatiently. "I came to see if you'd be interested in some more work,"

"Haven't you heard of using a phone?"

Brendan sat on the bath edge and dipped his fingers into the water, he brushed them through the bubbles and gave Ste a little glance. "I didn't have you down as the bubble bath kind of guy Stephen,"

Ste folded his arms across his chest feeling trapped. He wasn't sure whether it was better to stay in, "protected" by the thin layer of foam or to get out – starkers - and grab a towel. Brendan was close now, hovering by his head, he was standing with hands braced on the tub. He pressed his nose, then lips against Ste's neck and breathed in.

"Fruity," he teased, splashing bubbles to the feet end of the bath and opening his lips against Ste's still mouth.

Ste remained motionless and defiant for a moment, it might've only been a second but he agonised and fought himself over his next move. He wasn't the type of guy to run away or ignore things; he was a head-on, confrontational bloke. But Brendan weakened him, he tore down any understanding Ste had about himself and had shaken it up until it was a confused muddle of thoughts and worries. Through it all there were only ever two persistent thoughts – he liked Brendan, and the desire he felt to have sex with him was the strongest he'd felt for anyone.

He parted his lips, letting Brendan's fit between them. He raised a hand out of the water and hooked it around Brendan's neck. But before the kiss had even begun, Brendan pulled away.

"You're getting my shirt wet," he snapped. Pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose, he cooled off and stood up, "Get out the bath before you get yourself all wrinkled,"

Ste sulked at his attitude and held out his hand. "Pass us a towel then," he said.

Brendan smirked slightly, "A towel? Feeling a little modest are we Stephen?"

He blushed, all pink at the ears, and his hand died away.

Brendan cleared his throat and fetched a towel from the rail and held it out, stretched straight. "I won't look," he teased. His voice lowered until it was just above the noise of the radio, "It's not like I've seen every inch of you before…"

Ste took a wobbling step out of the bath. Brendan kept his lips parted and his eyes mockingly averted and wrapped the towel around Ste's waist, tying it at the hips. He made sure his hands brushed over Ste's damp skin.

He wiped his hand across Ste's dripping stomach. "Bubbles," he explained, drying his hand on the front of Ste's towel.

Ste walked past him, reaching for the door and casually, coldly said, "So, more work then?"

Brendan stalked through the flat following him. He didn't head for the bedroom for fresh clothes, knowing Brendan would see that as a come on to fuck him, he went to the kitchen busying himself with making a coffee.

"Poker game. Carl Costello's getting twitchy again," Brendan said, swaggering up behind Ste in the kitchen, "Could be a nice little earner in time for Christmas. Give those wee kids of yours a few more presents,"

Ste sighed. "It's cheating." He reached over and filled the kettle with water.

"I forgot you were against _cheating_," Brendan purred, moving in close and pressing himself against Ste.

Ste felt the water from the kettle overflow onto his hand. Brendan was hard against him, skimming his hands around his middle and pressing his fingers underneath the towel. Ste dropped the kettle into the sink when Brendan's mouth lingered on the back of his neck, Brendan was catching the stray water droplets with his tongue. Ste dug his fingers into the countertop, biting down on his lip.

Brendan put his hand on Ste's spine and pushed him down, then pulled him back with his hands on his hips. Ste heard the clink of Brendan removing his belt and fumbling with his clothes.

Brendan unwrapped Ste from the towel and although he could barely bring himself to say it, Ste had to.

"Brendan – _fuck_ – not in here! " Even though he could feel Brendan's cock straining against him and the thrill was driving him crazy, he had to pull away. He wasn't thinking logically but somehow fucking in the kitchen where Rae made him dinner was worse than in the bed they shared.

"Rae…."

Brendan thrust himself harder against Ste, "Tell her it's your Christmas bonus," he teased.

At Ste's cold silence, riled Brendan gripped onto his shoulder, gruffly speaking to him. "You think it makes a difference where and when we fuck? Interesting morals you've got," his grip loosened and his hand writhed around Ste's body until his fingertips stroked the length of his cock. He pressed his mouth behind Ste's ear, his hair tickling Brendan's nostrils, "Your body betrays you Stephen,"

Ste made a noise he wasn't even aware he could; Brendan's touch dragged it out of him. It was a heavy cry that ripped through the tension. Then Brendan was dragging him backwards – his feet almost tripping over the abandoned towel – and he was thrown against the sofa, Brendan folding him in two, with his knees somewhere up by his head. One of the kid's toys was pushing into his back and he reached underneath, pulling it out and tossing it across the room. Brendan gave an amused smirk and Ste matched it, falling back into a rough, messy kiss with him.

One of Brendan's arms propped him up and his other hand untucked his shirt. Between kissing, Ste reached out to tug down Brendan's trousers.

"Pocket," Brendan instructed, sucking on Ste's bottom lip. Ste did as told and rummaged until he found the condom, tearing open the packet and waiting for Brendan's next signal. Brendan took it from him and with his gaze somewhere in the corner of the room, he rolled it on, letting Ste help for the briefest of moments, before deciding it was too intimate and distracted him away with a quick jerk of his cock.

With his shirt tails dragging on Ste's stomach, Brendan placed two fingers into his mouth, coated them with saliva and watching as Ste's face crumpled in a mixture of discomfort and anticipation, he pushed them inside him.

Ste threw a hand over his face and blindly kissed Brendan's rough skin that he came into contact with. Brendan eased in, taking long gasps of air through his teeth and touching Ste's whimpering mouth with building impatience. Roughly, Ste grabbed at Brendan's hair and pulled him down onto his mouth, letting Brendan suck a cry into silence.

Ste had his damp forehead being wiped by the sleeve of Brendan's suit jacket as Brendan fumbled for grip on the arm of the sofa for leverage. Brendan pushed up the fringe of Ste's hair and shakily pawed at his face as the rock of his hips grew to a faster rhythm.

With his gaze dizzy, Ste let his head fall back and to the side, fingers of one hand clenching through Brendan's dark hair and the other touching his own throbbing cock. He had never been this greedy during sex until meeting Brendan, but the man just cultivated lust and desire with a single glance. Like at that moment, when a shared glance told Ste that Brendan needed him to carry on, wanted him to come first. But he wanted the power. He slipped his tongue into Ste's mouth and gripped his cock.

Ste broke away for air, body flinching, temperature soaring and come rushing over their hands. His eyes and mouth were still open wide when Brendan thrust roughly four more times before burying his face in Ste's neck and riding through the wave of ecstasy.

Mere minutes later Brendan was redressing, finger combing his hair into place. Ste eased into standing, wiping himself up and erring on the side of caution in what to say or do next. He wanted to say so many things, about how good it was, how Brendan made him feel, how he liked that expression on his face as he was about to come more than anything. But instead all he could do was wrap the towel around himself and offer Brendan a tea.

"Things to do. Places to be. People to see," Brendan said as Ste tried not to let his face fall. They could hardly cuddle on the sofa half naked until Rae came home anyway.

"Okay,"

Brendan closed the gap between them and stroked his face. That was the closest they'd get to a cuddle.

"You looked like you needed that," he murmured seductively.

Ste smiled shyly.

"This," Brendan said, stepping away and pointing to Ste in his towel, "Good look by the way."


End file.
